The present invention relates to tools in general and, more particularly, to hand-held, manually operated tools constructed to engage and tighten or loosen screws and other threaded elements.
There are already known various constructions of the arrangements of the type under consideration, starting with the simplest case of one-purpose tools and terminating with tools which have interchangeable bits so as to be able to cooperate with threaded elements of different configurations of the engaging portions. Examples of tools of the last-mentioned category may be found, for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 933,639; 1,325,407; 2,042,376; 2,194,062; 2,607,252; 2,629,278; 2,664,020; 3,214,992; 3,696,694; 4,034,574 and 4,242,931. However, experience with these known arrangements has shown that they suffer from many disadvantages, such as unwieldiness, incapability to reach into or operate in hard-to-access places, complexity accompanied by excess expense, or the like. These drawbacks have hampered, if not prevented, acceptance of tools of the so-called bevel gear driven offset type in the marketplace. Of course, this is very disadvantageous, since the average consumer cannot or will not afford the purchase of the expensive equipment, and thus will not be able to enjoy the ease of handling afforded by the tools of this kind.